10 Questions About Arkansas-Ole Miss

1. IMO, the Hogs shook it off on Sunday after they watched the game film. That has been a strong position that BP has held all year with the locker room. Not a factor for this game.
2. HDN has always been good at motivating his team. There is a a two-fold advantage here, one being that they are obviously the home team, and the second being that they are coming off an expected blowout of a hapless Blazer team that still put up 200 yards on the ground! Slight Factor that can be easily overcome with a humiliating first-drive, first quarter score. (Only one team has scored in the 1st Quarter against HDN’s Defense, Alabama kicked a FG)
3. RM is class act that brings it to the field game-in and game-out. he gets a bit cocky when he makes big plays (lots of jawing with whoever was in his face when he connected with a pass), but stays in the pocket and waits for his receivers get open. The one thing that stands out to me about RM is that he checks down his receivers, he doesn’t have just one guy that he throws to. lately, GC has had the hot hand, even though he needs “stickem” sometimes. Hostile or not, he has played in big road games before (with us and UM) and done well. RM will be a huge factor in this game!
4. Heard a comment the other day that the Hog Defense has gotten mean since the loss to the Tide. I didn’t really think about it until I saw DD Jones, a true freshman, playing like a veteran. You can see it starting to materialize before your very eyes that the big plays against our D is getting fewer and fewer. With the return of Elton Ford, the secondary graded out a few notches above during the last 3 games. HDN will try and demoralize our D-Line by hammering it up the middle (familiar?), but after what we stopped the Dive play in the swamp, I don’t really think that Ole Miss brings anything more to the table than the Gators.
5. If Dexter McCluster gets is game on…(HDN has been waiting for about a month for that to happen) we could expect to see maybe 2 big runs around the ends, but not much more. We were able to stop the Aggies sweeps and UF tried a couple with Demps (One they scored on from 10 yards out) but for the most part, I think our D will pretty much contain DM. Snead on the other hand can run as well, we need to treat him just like TT and “crush him like a veal cutlet”, to quote a somewhat famous California Governator! On the other hand, We will always have big pass plays. We lead the SEC in the most pass plays over 25 yards. We have had a few big runs, most notably in big games. I think this is a big game. But it will not matter who has the most big plays, because we own the turnover margin, especially when playing on hostile ground!
6. I must say one thing, the fact that MS is on the field makes our offense better. he really doesn’t have to touch the ball. His presence in the lineup causes opposing D’s to question, to hesitate, to think. That’s a huge advantage for us because that means time is being spent on decision making and not reacting to the play. When MS is on the field, it only makes us better. MS is a huge factor in how our offense will produce.
7. Unfortunately, we should never rely on the kicker to win a football game. Especially with his history of missing. If we get into those situations, I think we should consider it 4 down territory until we get at least inside the 20, then make sure we get into the middle of the field. If it comes down to this, we will be in trouble!
8. It really depends on how well the D-Line performs. If we can get to him early and often, then he will be forced to make some bad throws and will not be a factor in the first half. Remember, he will reset in the second half regardless who is in the lead. This is what he does well, forget. So we also need to continue the pressure early and often in the 2nd half as well. I will say this, when he gets rattled, he plays horribly. Honestly, if this happens, our DB’s will have a wonderful day!
9. Yes. Our schedules almost mirror one another toward the end of the year. The winner of this game will most likely go to a Jan 1 Bowl. The loser will probably go to the Independence or Music City Bowl. I like Ark in the Capital One Bowl against Michigan, wouldn’t that be nice!
10. Obviously Arkansas needs to win this game to have any momentum going into the latter part of the season. This game would be huge with Eastern Mich and SC on the horizon. Ole Miss also can’t afford to lose this game and still maintain some sort of chance to contend for a good bowl game. they really have no chance to win the west since 2 losses for the Tide (not likely) would still mean the Tide hold the advantage based on the tie breaker (Tide won). They will have a chance at a 10 win season if they win out. Not Likely though! OUT

VHS is hardly “hostile.”

3. Will Ryan Mallett be able to bring his A-game to a hostile stadium?

Reynolds is usually about as hostile as a golf course. But I will say that for a morning game, the decibel level at the Auburn game was impressive, at least from the student section. If only they would serve alcohol and close the north end zone.